


Babysitters Club

by Flossie



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Falling In Love, Female Solo, Sweet, hinata has anxiety, in-universe, lesbian MILF, sasuke hate, slowburn, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-05-14 19:03:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flossie/pseuds/Flossie
Summary: ~An in-universe Boruto-era SakuHina fanfic~Inspired by Gayle depicting sex between Sakura and Hinata just so wrongly I decided to write an in-universe fic about them lol. They babysit each other's kids and start to bond over shared frustration of their husbands never fuckin being home.my first fic since my parents caught me writing akatsuki porn in like 2009 and i stopped forever!NOTE: THIS IS A SASUKE ANTI FIC. IF UR NOT COOL WITH THE CHARACTERS TRASH TALKING SASUKE, THIS IS NOT THE FIC FOR Uedit added more tags (main characters are Sakura, Hinata, Sarada, and sorta Himawari and Boruto)edit edit changed the rating!!!! it's G-rated up through chapter 5, but chapter 6 opens with a naughty scene so proceed at your own risk





	1. Dinner duty

_Thursday afternoon._

Another long day at work. Sakura Haruno-Uchiha, working mother of one, collapses onto a cushion and turns on her TV. It’s Konoha News at 7... Naruto spotted at Ichiraku, unrest in Waterfall village, the impending chunin exams and... an update on the travels of redeemed enemy of Konoha, Mr. Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura’s dear beloved husband. Why he had time for a TV interview but not time to answer her letters was beyond her, but she understood. The safety of the village and his peace of mind depended on him doing this penance, of wandering the world doing good deeds. She understood, she really did. But it got so lonely... 

...

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a knock at the door. She turned off the TV, stood up and quickly brushed off her skirt and fixed her hair. She walked over and slid open the door to find the smiling face of her neighbor and good friend Hinata Uzumaki (née Hyūga), accompanied by her kids Himawari and Boruto, as well as Sakura’s own daughter Sarada. The two older kids pushed right past Sakura without so much as a hello, and raced to Sarada’s room. Hinata smiled good-naturedly, staying in the doorway. Flustered, Sakura remembered her manners. “By all means, come in! Would you like a cup of tea?”  
Hinata picked up Himawari and placed her on her hip, brushing her black hair out of her eyes. “If it’s no intrusion, I’d love to,” she said softly.  
“No no, no intrusion at all!” Sakura said a little too loudly, and lead Hinata to the sitting room. Hinata sat down as Sakura went to boil some water. She set Himawari on the floor to crawl and explore. 

Sakura bustled back into the sitting room and put down a platter of tea and crackers with a clink. Sakura silently cursed herself for showing domestic clumsiness in front of Hinata, the very model of a perfect Konaha wife. But then again, it’s not like Sasuke (bless his heart) was here to see... 

Sakura sat down next to Hinata and let out a harsh exhale. Hinata placed a hand on Sakura’s shoulder, surprising her. She looked into Hinata’s blank white eyes. Her gentle gaze was disarming.  
“Is everything alright?” She asked softly.  
Sakura tried to smile. “Of course, you know, just working hard at the hospital...”  
Hinata looked down. “Oh...” She tapped her pointer fingers together. Took a deep breath. “Well... I’ve been having some trouble at home. Naruto... he’s so busy with his duties at the capital that I barely see him anymore. I was hoping you might have some... advice... what with Sasuke... but it seems like you’re doing alright that’s alrigh—“  
“Hinata!” Sakura dropped her fake smile and let some of the pain and fatigue back into her face. “Hinata, I’m so glad you said something. I’m so... you know I love sasuke to death, you know I do, but..”  
“But you miss him?”  
“But I don’t know what the fuck his problem is!!”  
That drew a giggle from Hinata, so Sakura poured them each a cup of tea and kept on the tirade. “You know every time I turn on the news, there he is? Helping out some poor strangers and smiling for the camera but he can never take time out of his busy fucking day to swing by and see me and his own daughter?? He doesn’t send money home, he doesn’t do anything for us, Sarada has no one to teach her about her sharingan, and I’m so busy at the hospital I barely have time to take care of myself!!" Without catching her breath, Sakura glanced towards Sarada's room and finishes softly, "let alone take care of her!” She put her head into her hands, and quietly began sobbing. Hinata, worried by this, wrapped an arm around her and gestured for her to drink her tea, which Sakura did with shaking hands. Hinata always knew just how to soothe you, Sakura thought. That’s why she was so good with the kids.  
“I know just what you mean.” Hinata's voice was barely above a whisper. She had Sakura’s head comfortably resting on her breast, an arm around her shoulders. “Naruto never comes home until late, if at all, and it’s really messing Boruto up. So then he’s getting mad and acting up, and the most I can do is try to keep Himawari comfortable but it’s really doing... it’s really doing a number on me.” Sakura closed her eyes and hummed an agreement. She was comfortable, sitting there listening to Hinata’s breath. She hadn’t been comfortable like this in a long time. 

...

Soon after Hinata’s admission, Boruto and Sarada tumbled into the sitting room asking “Mooooom, where’s dinner?”  
“Shit,” Sakura swore, just soft enough for Hinata to hear. “Uh, kids... how bout we order out from Ichiraku?”  
The kids cheered and even Himawari babbled pleasantly. Sakura took everyone’s orders, and got her purse. “I’m gonna go grab the ramen, Hinata, are you cool to stay with the kids?”  
“Of course!” She replied as Sakura headed out. 

...

By the time Sakura got back with the piping hot tubs of ramen, Hinata had set the table and all the kids were watching cartoons on the TV. “Dinners served!” Sakura sung and closed the door behind her. As the kids scrambled to wash their hands and join their moms at the table, Sakura leaned over to Hinata. “Thanks for taking care of Sarada. Listen, I saw Naruto at ichiraku.”  
Hinata’s eyes lit up. “You did?”  
“Yeah. He said he wouldn’t be able to come home tonight. Preparing security for the chunin exams or whatever.”  
Hinata sighed heavily. “I understand.”  
“However,” Sakura continued, “if you’d like, I could take the kids for the night...”  
Hinata smiled softly. “If it’s not too much of a hassle.”  
“Of course it’s not. Hey kids!” The kids all ran to the table, eager to eat the gourmet dinner.  
“Yes mom?” Sarada asked with her characteristic politeness.  
“Sup,” grumbled Boruto.  
“Hinata and I were thinking, why don’t we all have a slumber party at my place tonight!”  
Boruto cheered and Himawari giggled.  
Sarada smiled and declared, “that sounds fantastic, mom!” Boruto and Sarada then got lost in their plans for the rest of the night, and Sakura served everyone takeout ramen. It was looking to be a good night. 

...

“It’s so late. You don’t have to leave.” Sakura caught Hinata’s shoulder as she headed for the door.  
“No, really, I don’t like to intrude,” Hinata mumbled, voice barely audible and hid behind her pointer fingers.  
“Really, I insist,” Sakura replied.  
Hinata softened under the Sakura's heavy hand. “I guess you’re right. It’s cold outside and maybe it's not so safe for the heiress to the Hyūga clan to just be walking around...”  
“I am absolutely sure you’d be safe getting home, Hinata. You are one of Konoha's finest kunoichi. I just.... I just don’t want to be alone.”  
Hinata looked into her friend's green eyes.  
“And something tells me you don’t want to either.”  
Hinata looked down. “You’re not... you’re not wrong” she smiled.  
“Here, go make yourself comfortable in my bed. I’ll put the kids to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment or hit me @akatsukislut on twitter with any feedback! I just hope I'm bringing joy to someone with this lmfao


	2. Good morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slooooooowwwwwwburrnnnnnnnnnnn. missed connections. a closer look at the everyday.

_Friday morning._

Sakura’s eyes opened with a jolt, a second before her alarm began to beep. She moved her hand to slam the snooze button. Or, she tried to move her hand. The gentle tug from her upper arm wasn’t enough to dislodge it… something was in the way. Something warm? Her gaze lazily slid down her left arm. When it reached her wrist, all she could muster was a quiet “oh.” 

The beeping from the alarm was getting louder. Sakura closed her eyes. Already a headache this early in the morning? This was too much. With her free hand, she gingerly turned off her alarm and unwove Hinata’s fingers from her own. Hinata’s hands were warm but rough. Her nails were short and well-kept, her knuckles slightly swolen. Even in her sleep, she looked tired. There were lines starting to form around her young eyes. Sakura lightly touched Hinata’s glossy, thick hair and sighed. She brought her hand back to her own lap and stood up from her bed. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stay here, she had work at the hospital. She tied her headband around her hair and slipped into clothes. Brushed her teeth, put on her makeup to hide her own stress and exhaustion. She was greeted in the kitchen by Sarada, as she was every morning. She sat down at the table and perused a newspaper as Sarada set a cup of coffee next to her.  
“Boruto still sleeping?” Sakura glanced up.  
Sarada smiled. “Yeah, Himawari too.”  
“Good. They need their rest. It must be hard on them, never knowing whether their dad will be home…”  
Sarada made a disdainful noise as she flipped the eggs she was frying.  
Sakura lowered her newspaper to give Sarada a meaningful look.  
“Anything big planned for the hospital today?”  
Sakura hummed, “just the usual. We haven’t had any crises in a while, knock on wood. I should have more time to focus on my research instead of just overseeing treatment of patients all day.”  
Sarada nodded and slipped the eggs out of the skillet onto a couple plates. She brought them to the table and sat net to her mother. Sakura folded the paper and set it on the table as well. “Does Shino-Sensei have anything interesting in store for you today at school?”  
Sarada shrugged in response. “Every day is an adventure with Boruto” she said with a hint of a snicker.  
Sakura shared the laugh. She finished her egg and stood up. “Thanks for breakfast, sweetie!” She kissed Sarada on the forehead, then headed to the doorway to put on her sandals. 

Sarada picked up her plate and walked to the living room. She sat down in front of the TV and turned on the morning cartoons. Every morning, she had time to watch two episodes of Kagemasa, brush her teeth, then head off to school. About halfway through the second episode, which was a rerun, she thought better of letting Boruto sleep in. He was always late for class anyway—he probably wasn’t even awake yet! She left the TV on and went to fry another egg. Holding the fried egg in the hot skillet, she walked over to her room. “Boruto!” she called. “Breakfast is getting cold!” and shoved the skillet, oil still crackling, under Boruto’s nose. He jolted awake, causing her to loose balance. The egg flew out of the skillet. Boruto didn’t miss a beat. He jumped off the floor and caught the egg like a frisbee in his mouth. The skillet clattered to the ground. Sarada giggled and Boruto glared at her “what,” he muttered through a full mouth.  
“Come on, let’s go to school!”  
He smiled. “All right, ya know!”  
The two kids grabbed their breakfasts, slipped on their sandals, and ran out the door on the way to school. 

Hinata woke up hours later to the mention of her name on the TV. The news was on, and running some story about how the princess of the Hyūga clan was scheduled to give a talk to the Feudal lord next week to maintain diplomatic ties with Konoha. She blinked, her soft brow knit in temporary confusion. She was on a strange bed, in a strange room. On the bedside table, she spotted a framed photograph of Sakura, Sasuke, and Sarada and it all came flooding back to her. She looked down at her body. Still wearing her day clothes… She took a deep breath. OK, she could handle it. She got out of bed and walked around the house. The kids were gone, presumably to school. She found Himawari waist-deep in Sarada’s old toy chest, making a bit of a mess.  
“Hey Hima.”  
“Mama!”  
“Let’s go home.” She picked up her daughter. “Mama has a long day ahead of her…” she whispered affectionately into Himawari’s ear. She began to walk toward Sakura’s door. “A whole lot,” she thought to herself as she wondered how she would manage all the cooking and cleaning her house required after letting herself sleep in so late this morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just banged this one out really fast because i wanted m o r e....
> 
> if this is too slow lmk? its my first attempt at a fic ever and i have no idea what im doing :)


	3. Home Repairs

_Next Sunday._

♡♡♡

“Holy fire. Where’s the phone. HIMAWARI, WHERE’S THE PHONE??? Where’s Himawari?? Phone phone phone….. HIMA, MOMMA NEEDS THE PHONE….. where in god’s name is Hima…. HIMAWARI, SWEETIE, WHERE’S THE PHONE?? IT’S AN EMERGENCY!!! hmmm….” Hinata dug through the papers and knickknacks on Naruto’s desk in the study. “HIMAWARI, WHERE ARE YOU?” she called, with desperation. She plopped down in her husband’s chair and exhaled, head in her hands. “Where’s the phone when you need it…” She collected herself again and stood up, and walked over to the kitchen to dig around next to the sink again. “Finally!” she almost screamed.

“SAKURA”  


“SAKURA!” Hinata gulped for air, “HE’S BACK. HE’S BACK!! ... SO HE HASN’T VISITED YOU YET!! THAT…..!!! --- SAKURA, ARE YOU THERE? SAKURA!??”

Silence on the other end of the line. Hinata groaned and hung the phone back up in its proper location. She noticed that Himawari had finally revealed herself and was sitting at the table drawing a portrait of her new friend Inojin. Grabbing her daughter under her arm, she slipped on some sandals and rushed out of her house towards Sakura’s.

“SAKURA!” Hinata banged on the door. Still no reply. With a deep breath she plopped Himawari to the floor and activated her byakugan. She located Sakura lying in her bedroom, with a chakra flow so stagnant she might be dead. Hinata smirked. ‘I’m only doing this for Sakura’s safety, and I’m sure Naruto and Sasuke will understand,’ she lied to herself, and whispered “Eight trigrams vacuum palm.” She thrust her hand towards the door and it blew off its hinges, right into Sakura’s chaotic living room. “Hima, follow me.” Hinata ran into the house to find her good friend, while Himawari stood spellbound staring at the wreckage.

Upstairs, Hinata put a wet towel on Sakura’s forehead, then lightly poked a vital chakra point to jolt her awake. Sakura’s eyes snapped open and she sat up suddenly, only to crumple back onto her bed, dropping the phone out of her hand as she groaned.

“Did you have to wake me like that?”

Hinata’s face went pale. She poked her forefingers together. “I-it worked, didn’t it?”

Sakura’s expression softened as she reassured her friend, “Yeah, sorry, it was just a surprise.” This time, she propped herself up on an elbow before sitting up slowly. “So, Hinata.”

“Y-yes?”

“How did you get into my house?”

Hinata jumped to Sakura’s bedroom door, blocking it with outstretched arms. “Huh? Just, you know, the normal way?”

Sakura smiled a little at that. “But wait, you said Sasuke was back?”

“He came to my door, said ‘where’s Naruto,’ and then turned and left without letting me even answer his question. He didn’t visit you first?”

“Hinata… I haven’t seen him in literally forever. Sarada doesn’t even _remember_ him.”

Hinata looked down. “Yeah. Right. I forgot. You know, sometimes I think I have it bad with Naruto spending the night at the capital, but you—“

Sakura cut her off by gently touching her arm. “It’s different. You live in constant uncertainty… in some ways it’s easier for me because I’ve basically given up all hope,” she offered with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Hinata sat in silence, full of guilt that she was even complaining when her best friend’s husband wasn’t even a part of his own child’s life.

“Hey, while you’re here, do you think you could help me, you know…” Sakura gestured limply to the house, “make this place look nice?”

“Of course! But first, I’ll make you a cup of tea and get you back on your feet.”

Sakura groaned. “About that…. you’re not going to like the looks of the kettle.”  
“But I was just here last week? And it was fine?”

She shook her pink head. “Just don’t judge me too hard, OK? I didn’t grow up as a princess.”

Hinata’s face flushed bright red. “Alright! So I’ll be doing the dishes first. Himawari, come help mama make aunty Sakura a cup of tea!”

 

♡♡♡

 

The women worked for hours, organizing piles of laundry and dishes and doodads to put away. Sakura put on an old Merle Haggard record, one of Sasuke’s favorites.

“What even is an Okie from Muskogee?” asked Hinata.

“I… I don’t even know,” admitted Sakura.

The two went back to cleaning in silence, dusting surfaces and wiping down the kitchen table. Sakura quietly sang along to the sad strains of country music.

“So. What are we going to do about this door?”

Hinata tapped her forefingers together and surveyed the damage. The door was completely destroyed, and part of the door frame along with it. “I’m sure we can fix it…”

“Ya sure? I’m calling Yamato.” She picked up the phone and leaned back on a wall.

“Hi? Yes, Kakashi? It’s me. …. I’m looking for Yamato. …. Yes, I know he’s on assignment, but it’s an emergency. Broke a door. … Yeah, we need a new door. …. Because my husband’s coming home tonight! We don’t have time to wait! …. No, the home improvement store isn’t open on Sundays. … Trust me, I know. .… I just know. … I break a lot of stuff, OK!? Now how do we get Yamato over here stat!?” Sakura slammed down the phone. It bounced out of its holder and clattered to the floor. She didn’t pick it back up. Through gritted teeth, she uttered, “he’s bringing Orochimaru.”

“By the blessed name of Hashirama Senju…” whispered Hinata, as she sat on the floor in defeat.

 

“Well, what are we going to do in the meantime? Before Yamato gets here? The house looks better than it ever has!” Sakura exclaimed, breaking the silence.

Hinata warily looked up at her. “What are you going to make Sasuke for dinner?”

“Dinner?” Sakura looked confused. She picked up an apple and bit into it, speaking through the crunches. “I don’t know, never thought about it. Probably just order takeout.”

Hinata didn’t break eye contact. She just repeated, in a voice much more demanding than Sakura had ever heard her use, “what are you going to make Sasuke for dinner?”

Sakura cringed. “God, I don’t know. He likes tomatoes…”

Hinata played with one of the pompoms on her sweater in thought. “Tomatoes… Naruto’s mother had a wonderful recipe for—“

“Don’t bother. If it’s from the Uzumaki family cook book, there’s no way he’ll like it. He hates… anything sweet.”

Hinata gave Sakura a searching look. “He hates… sweet things.”

“Yeah. Don’t ask me why.”

Hinata laughed.

“Huh?”

“Guess that’s why he never comes home,” she whispered through a slight smile.

“WHAT!?”

“nothing”

 

The two mothers stared at each other until they heard an uncertain voice saying, “knock knock.” It was Yamato Hatake, accompanied by Orochimaru and their child Mitsuki.

“Go play with Himawari,” the snake person hissed.

Mitsuki smiled blankly. “Who?”  
“My daughter?” prompted Hinata, “The one you’ve sat next to for dinner at my house… how many times?”

“I’ve gone to Boruto’s house eleven times,” Mitsuki replied, smiling blankly at nobody in particular.

“That’s _my_ house.”

“Boruto’s mom is very nice. I wonder if she helped make him into my sun?”

“ _I’m_ Boruto’s mother.”

Mitsuki didn’t seem to hear her. Their parent stopped the awkward exchange by pushing them towards Himawari. “Go make friends, little one!”

Hinata glared after the little blue child in utter confusion.

Yamato smiled at her, saying “don’t worry about it. That kid is… like that. So, why’d you need me here on such short notice?”  
Sakura blushed and pointed out the glaring lack of door in the entryway.

Yamato nodded slowly. “Gotcha. So you called me and a criminal who tried to destroy Konoha into your house _on a Sunday_ because you needed a new door.”

“S-sasuke’s in town and I wanted the house to be perfect for him…” Sakura trailed off, embarassed.

To her surprise, Yamato just winked. “You know, one time I got some time off from guarding that guy,” he gestured to the snake person now inspecting Sakura’s glassware, “and Kakashi blew off a meeting with the Raikage just to see me. So I get it! Wood style: two pillar door technique,” he finished with a flourish of hand seals. A wooden door, grander than the one Hinata had destroyed, came into being right in front of their eyes.

Sakura and Hinata thanked him profusely, and Hinata invited him in for tea. However he refused, and left with Orochimaru and Mitsuki.

 

“That was relatively…”

“Not painful!” finished Hinata. “That snake freak always gives me the creeps though,” she noted, taking a seat at the dinner table.

“No kidding,” Sakura replied, sitting next to her. “Sasuke picked up a lot of…. eccentricities… from them…” she looked distastefully towards the door.

“Eew, do tell!” Hinata leaned closer to her pink-haired friend.

Sakura smiled. “Sure, but what are we having for dinner? All this cleaning makes me _hun-gry_!”

“Don’t worry about it. I got it,” Hinata sighed. She slowly stood up then padded over to the kitchen. “How about you tell me about Sasuke’s weird snake habits while I boil some noodles?”

 

♡♡♡

 

“Hey mom, I’m home!” Sarada sung as she hung her backpack on a hook near the door. “That smells so good! What’s cooking?” She took her sandals off and then walked to the kitchen.

There, Hinata and Sakura were both leaning against the wall in the kitchen, laughing loudly. Hinata’s eyes fluttered open as the floors creaked under Sarada’s footsteps.

“Oh good, you’re just in time for dinner!” She strained out three bowls of noodles and placed two on the table. “For you and Sarada!” she shooed Sakura out of the kitchen. She then strained out a third bowl and garnished it with an egg and some sliced tomatoes. “This one’s for Sasuke, OK? I’ll leave it on the counter.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner as well?” invited Sakura.

Did Hinata sense a twinge of sadness in her voice? “No, really, I have to get going or Boruto might go hungry,” the princess smiled apologetically. “I’ll see you soon though, right? And good luck with your exams, Sarada!” Hinata donned her sandals and left through the grandiose new wooden door.

 

♡♡♡

 

Later that night, the phone rang at the Uzumaki household. Boruto picked it up, and called for Hinata. “Mom, it’s for you…”

“Hi? … Sakura? … _SAKURA!!_ … Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Look, I’ll go get Yamato right now if you want. He lives nearby.”

“What’s up?” asked Boruto, taking back the phone.

“Well first of all your uncle Sasuke is the worst. But second of all…” Hinata stifled laughter. “Auntie Sakura just broke her door… again.”

 


	4. Sarada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarada!

Cool air drift through a tidy Konoha household. The woman of the house sat with her daughter at the table, listlessly poking at her noodles. They had been sitting there so long they were starting to dissolve in the broth.

“Mom, please eat?” Sarada looked plaintively into her mother’s green eyes.

Sakura shook her head in silent response. She picked up a single noodle with her chopsticks and slurped it halfway into her mouth before it broke, falling back into the bowl. The soft sound of the splash was carried away by the wind blowing through their once-again open doorway.

Sakura’s eyes were tired. Her face was puffed up from crying, and her forehead was creased from trying not to cry. Her usually cheerful presence was reduced to little more than a lump of coal.

Sarada had seen it all before. She did the only thing she knew how to do―take the phone to her room to make some business calls.

 

First, she called the Akimichi household to try to find her best friend Cho-Cho. The girl not only had a way with words, but also would not settle for Sakura eating any less a than healthy portion. Sarada waited as the phone rang for a minute or two, but went to voicemail. She tried a couple more times before giving up.

 

Next, she tried the Yamanakas. She was not particularly close with their son Inojin, but she knew that their mothers got along very well. Inojin picked up the phone after only one ring, immediately whispering into the phone, “can you please pretend to be your mom and tell my mom I’m staying at your place tonight?” Sarada opened her mouth to say no, but before she could make a sound she was on the line with Ino, who sounded angry.

“Hi darling,” Sarada answered in a shaky voice, doing her best Sakura impression, “no what? me? I’m fine, my voice is always like this! … Yes, Inojin and Sarada had a playdate planned. … No, babe, Inojin did not put me up to this! I see you’re a riot as always! … Are you going to come over and drop him off? … Why not? … Mission? Where? … Alright, love you as always Ino-pig!” Sarada slammed down the phone with an exasperated sigh. Not only was she now caught up in an elaborate lie, but even worse, Ino wouldn’t be able to come over and comfort her mom!

Who else could she call? Shino-sensei was way too creepy, she didn’t like Shikadai very much, she had no idea how to get ahold of Mitsuki…

Well, there was always Boruto. Sarada swallowed her pride and dialed the number for the Hyuuga-Uzumaki household. The keys for those numbers were worn out from overuse, as Sarada’s mom and Boruto’s dad were very old and close friends. Sarada and Boruto had practically grown up together, going to each other’s houses and being babysat by each other’s moms. Since starting the academy, she no longer liked to associate herself with Boruto because of his disdainful attitude towards his studies, but this was for Sakura, not for him.

After a couple rings, Boruto picked up the phone.

“Hi, it’s Sarada—“

He interrupted her with a grunt, and she heard him say “Mom, it’s for you…”

A bit of noise and then she heard Hinata’s soft voice, asking “Hi?”

“Hi, Hinata, it’s me, Sarada. Um, I think my mom needs some help…”

“Sakura?”

“Yeah, Sakura. Well she was feeling really angry and punched the door and now our house is really cold—”

“SAKURA!!” the voice on the other end of the phone scolded.

“Well it’s because my dad didn’t come home, she was really expecting him to and now she won’t eat her noodles or fix the door or anything and I’m kind of worried.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Look, I’ll go get Yamato right now if you want. He lives nearby.”

Yamato was Sakura’s old team captain. It made sense that he might know how to calm down her mother, she guessed? “Yeah, that would be super helpful,” she replied, and hung up the phone.

 

Sarada padded back to the dining room table. Her mom was slumped over in her chair, dozing off. She noticed that her face was wet with fresh tears. Just wanting to feel useful, she put the kettle on the stove to make some tea, and pulled out a package of crackers. She munched on one, watching her mother’s chest rise and fall, until the kettle whistled and she had a concrete reason to get up again. The noise woke Sakura, who lazily opened her eyes and slurred, “Sarada. You shouldn’t have.”

“I had to, mom. You always get like this when dad makes promises he can’t keep.” She glowered into the tea she was preparing. “Why do you even believe the things he says anyway?”

This had the intended effect of bringing back Sakura’s fighting spirit. She stood at the table, chair squeaking backwards across the floor with the force of her movement. “You don’t talk that way about Sasuke!” she shouted, and brought her fist down on the table. Which, of course, cracked in two.

Sarada looked at her mother impatiently. “Now wherever shall I serve the tea? We have guests on the way.”

“The house is fine the way it is! I spent all day tidying up, the guests better be satisfied!” A pause, and then, “what guests?”

 

“Knock knock,” called an uncertain man’s voice.

Sakura and Sarada whipped around to see who was at the door. It was Yamato, Kakashi, Orochimaru, Mitsuki, Hinata, Boruto, and Himawari—all in their pajamas.

“Crap, I only made tea for four…” Sarada trailed off.


	5. Unexpected Guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This does contain references to Boruto ep 17-24. Hopefully it's still enjoyable if you're not familiar with that story arc! (I did add a hyperlink where relevant.)

Sakura’s jaw dropped to the floor. Standing in her shattered doorway were two of her daughter’s classmates’ families, not to mention her old captain (and sixth Hokage) Kakashi?

Sarada set the tray of tea and crackers down in the living room and nonchalantly greeted the guests. None of whom seemed particularly pleased to be there.

“Well what am I doing standing around here, of course, please come in! Make yourselves at home!” Sakura stammered.

As the guests all filed into the living room, Sarada started to the kitchen to make more tea. Sakura stopped her.

“Actually, honey, you can share the tea with the kids. I’ve got something a bit better for the adults.”

She patted Sarada on the back and then grabbed a pack of beers from the fridge. She looked over her shoulder to the uncomfortable congregation of adults in her living room.

“Anyone for Sake bombs?”

 

♡♡♡

 

“Remember when Sasuke first joined our team?! He was such a tool!” Kakashi shouted jovially, raising his beer. In a high-pitched voice, he mocked, “I dislike a lot of things and I don’t really like anything.”

Sakura, Hinata, Yamato, and Orochimaru, all fairly deep into their drinking by now, had a great laugh at that.

Hinata’s eyes widened. “No way. What kind of kid doesn’t like anything? Even my hardass cousin Neji-may-he-rest-in-peace had things he liked!”

Sakura replied in disbelief, “That guy? Youre kidding. What did he like?”

Hinata threw her head back in an exaggerated gesture of thought. “Well, I know he liked wasabi peas... and he liked fishing... and one time I even caught him trying to learn guitar..." she trailed off shyly.

Kakashi nearly cried. “Imagine that... a Hyūga learning guitar!!”

Sakura howled with laughter. “You’re right though,” she slurred, “Sasuke is the fucking worst. You know he never puts the toilet seat down and he can’t fucking aim his pee?”

Hinata laughed quietly, tears coming out of her eyes. She piped up, “and he’s so focused on Naruto! He walks into my house,” she made a grouchy face and mimicked Sasuke in a deep monotone, “‘where’s Naruto?’ He sees you dying on the battlefield, ‘where’s Naruto?’ I bet the second after he knocked you up he just said, ‘Where’s Naruto?’”

The house filled up with their laughter as Hinata blushed at her own brash comment.

“No no no,” Sakura shouted, “I promise he does not say that after we fuck!! ....at least not every time,” she finished with a sly wink at Hinata, sending her poor friend over the edge of hysterical laughter.

“She’s right, though,” Kakashi insisted, pointing his finger to the sky majestically. “You’ve saved his life more times than I can count. They never would have sealed away that bitch Kaguya if it weren’t for your insane amount of chakra, and,” he winked, “your insanely strong punches!”

“Oh you,” Sakura cooed, trying to bring their attention away from the cold wind blowing though the open doorway and the splinters of broken table filling the dining room.

“Ugh, Y’all, _tell_ me about it,” Orochimaru butted in, “Sasuke was the worst when he was living with me too! He never wanted to join me for shower soup!”

Silence.

“Excuse me, what?” Asked Yamato, emboldened by the beer.

“Sh-shower soup? Like when you eat soup in the shower?” They mimed licking soup out of a bowl with their long tongue.

“Dude, that is absolutely disgusting!” Sakura shrieked.

“One time,” Yamato recalled, “when we were fighting him, Naruto went all Kyubified and started hurting Sakura. So obviously I chose to restrain Naruto instead of continuing the fight at a disadvantage, right?”

Everyone in the room nodded agreement.

“Right, well after he came back to the village and we got to be on speaking terms, he kept making fun of me for,” Yamato made a stupid face and did a whiny voice, “‘not being strong enough to stop him’! As if it weren’t my mission to keep my team safe! Also, he never acknowledged me as a member of team 7...” Yamato melted down into tears and leaned into Kakashi’s chest.

“There there honey,” Kakashi cooed. “There there.”

“Fuck, I think I’m gonna cry too,” Sakura whispered into Hinata’s ear.

“Why?” She whispered back.

“They're just... so... sweet!” She blubbered, collapsing into tears on Hinata’s sweet-smelling lap. Hinata patted Sakura’s hair tentatively and made eye contact with Orochimaru. “What a night,” she commented.

The snake sage stared emptily back at her.

 

“Uh... knock knock?” A husky woman’s voice called through the empty doorway.

The floorboards creaked as the figure crossed the threshold without awaiting response. “Hey Sakura, have you seen my wife and kids arou—“

Hinata activated her Byakugan to see who was at the door. When she recognized the visitor, she sprang to her feet, letting Sakura's head bump against the floor. She ran towards the entryway. “Naruto!” She cried.

 

 _Naruto?!_   Sakura stumbled to her feet as well, trying to follow Hinata. When she caught up, she saw Hinata with her arms draped around Naruto’s neck, passionately making out with him. _Alright_.  Sakura looked at her feet, about to blurt out something she might regret, when Naruto noticed her. He embarrassedly pushed Hinata off of him and ran over to embrace Sakura. “Sakura, buddy, it’s been a while! How’s Sarada?”

“Naruto my love! She’s in her room playing with Mitsuki and your kids. Kakashi and Yamato are over, and we’re...” she whispered into his ear, “making fun of Sasuke.”

Naruto started. “Yo! I want in!”

Sakura grabbed his arm and dragged him to the living room where the beer was.

 

 ♡♡♡

 

A couple drinks in, Naruto was feeling the spirit of the party. “Look, I _know_ I’m Konoha’s #2 Worst Absentee Father, so I’m one to talk, but... Sasuke is definitely #1!” he began. “Y’all know the story of our first kiss, right? That doofus kissed me _twice_ before ever even kissing that hottie _once_!” he gestured to Sakura, leaning on his wife and laughing between hiccups.

Hinata’s sight frown did not go unnoticed by Sakura. She interjected, “Hey, Naruto, babe, why don’t you show your _wife_ some love as well?”

Naruto’s eyes widened. “Yo. Speaking of showing your wife love, did you hear about how Sarada thought Sasuke cheated on you?”

“ _WHAT??”_

Orochimaru hysterically slapped his knee. “Holy Manda that’s a good one! Tell them! Tell them!!”

Naruto, ever charismatic, launched into the tale of how Sarada tried to find out if Karin, instead of Sakura, was her real mom. [♡](https://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Sarada_Uchiha_Arc#Episodes)

 

♡♡♡

 

“But you _believed_ it??” Sakura shouted after hearing the story. “You _all_ believed that Sasuke cheated on me, and… and that I didn’t even give him hell for it? _”_

Kakashi pointed out, “He’s never around, how would we know if you beat him up?”

Sakura calmed herself and nodded. “True, true.”

“But hell yeah I believed it!” Naruto continued, knocking back another cup of sake. “Sasuke is such a scumbag! Like he’s so unnecessarily mean! Literally every time I try to call him my friend he just looks me in the eyes and says ‘no.’ Who the hell does that?” He started to tear up. “Wait... You all _are_ my friends, right?!”

Everyone, even Orochimaru, leaned in for a big group hug.

“Thanks,” Sakura blubbered, “thanks everyone for coming over and clearing the air. Fuck Sasuke! He’s fucked me up one too many times!!” she burst into real tears again and collapsed into the group.

Yamato, uncomfortable at Orochimaru’s creeping hands, broke the hug. “So, uh, Sakura, what did you need me here for in the first place?”

Sakura collected herself and sat back onto her butt. “Good question." She turned towards her daughter's room and called, "SARA—!" until Hinata quieted her by tapping a pressure point.

“It’s late, Sakura,” she whispered into her ear. “The kids’ve probably--hopefully?--gone to sleep by now.” She looked at Yamato and then meaningfully gestured towards the doorway. “Yamato, You’re cold, right?”

“Yeah, this house sure is draft— _ohhhhhhh_ ” Yamato rolled his eyes in realization and crawled to his feet. As he swayed towards the door, he wove a few hand signs and muttered “wood style: two pillar door technique,” bringing a door to life in Sakura’s open doorway.

A door with an image of Sasuke on it. 

“What the hell,” yelled Sakura.

“I thought we could play darts!” Yamato replied, pulling some shuriken out of his ninja fanny pack.

“CHANNARO!!” Sakura shouted as she pelted the effigy with knives.


	6. To the Zoo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) HEY so the first paragraph (up to the hearts) of this is a masturbation scene!!! Read at your own risk!!! Or if you skip the first section you won't really lose anything!

Sakura lay in bed, on her side, legs open. Eyes closed and tearful. Jaws clenched, neck muscles tensed. Back arched, glutes flexed. Holding her magic wand to herself, highest setting. She heaved deep breaths. Vague, remembered images of Sasuke Uchiha flashed in front of her eyes. She tried to fixate on the parts of him she’d convinced herself she loved… The curve of his strong neck, his slender waist, his pink, feminine lips…. Heavy breaths. She moaned softly. She was getting closer. Imagining the feel of those full, wet lips on her mouth, on her chest, on her tits… She reached her other hand down to massage around the vibe. Choked on a breath and let out another groan. She could feel he head rush start to build, felt herself throbbing, breathing got hard. In her mind, she looked down at the dark-headed person that was sucking her clit with those beautiful soft lips. She imagined the person looking up at her, as she mimicked the feel of that motion with her free hand. And the owner of those perfect lips had cloudy white eyes and a round, sweet face. Imagining staring into the famous eyes of Hinata Hyuuga, Sakura momentarily blacked out and came as hard as she had in… well, a long time.

She rolled onto her stomach, still panting, arms and legs splayed out and the bedsheets damp. At first she couldn’t think but momentarily realized what she’d just done, and the post-nut depression began to sink in. She buried her head in her pillow and lay there, feeling sweat dry off her back. Hinata Hyuuga, huh? Her _friend_? There’s no way. That had to have just been a fluke… a completely random artifact of her loneliness, she still loved Sasuke, didn’t she? She had always loved Sasuke, just like Hinata had always loved Naruto-kun. It must have been a mistake. It must have been a mistake.

 

♡♡♡

 

You know what else was a mistake? Getting so distracted jerking off that you forget that your friend is supposed to be coming over any minute now. The sound of soft knocks on the wooden door echoed through the house to Sakura, lying stupid and facedown naked in bed.

And the worst part was that she couldn’t just blow this off—Hinata had the byakugan. Hinata could probably see her right now, and the horror at that thought was enough to force Sakura to roll out of bed, wrap herself in a light pink cotton yukata, splash water on her face, and attempt to scrub the smell of herself off her hands. Nowhere near put-together, but at least decent, Sakura ran to the door to greet her guest.

Hinata stood at the door wearing a lavender sundress over opaque leggings, a wide-brimmed sun hat, and a backpack, smiling brightly. Sakura managed to smile back, and leaned in to hug Hinata. She hoped she didn’t smell _too_ bad as she let Hinata’s keen nose dangerously close to her dirty pink hair, and was caught completely off-guard when Hinata planted a soft, slightly damp kiss on her cheek.

“H- Hinata-hime!!” Sakura overreacted and jerked backward, her cheeks flushing hot red.

“Oh! I’m sorry, Sakura! I don’t know what got into me,” Hinata replied quietly and dropped the hug.

The two women stood on opposite sides of the doorway for a beat, trying to figure out what just happened.

 

Hinata adjusted the backpack she was wearing. “So, are you ready to go? If we leave now, we can make the 12:15 penguin feeding…”

“Right. The zoo.” Sakura collected herself. “Give me just a second….” She ran back into her house to grab her purse, keys, and a granola bar, then donned her headband and sandals. “Yeah, I’m good to go.”

 

♡♡♡

 

“Hey, thanks again for taking the day off to hang out with me,” Hinata whispered to Sakura as they leaned on the railing overlooking the bear enclosure.

“No, really, thank you for inviting me. I tend to get all caught up in my work and forget to take time for myself. Even though all day I’m just telling patients, reduce stress! reduce stress! reduce stress!” Sakura laughed weakly at the irony. “So I guess… thanks for forcing me to take some time for myself, you know?” She beamed at Hinata.

Even without her byakugan activated, Hinata could see how shallow her friend’s smile really was. She met Sakura’s green eyes with her cloudy ones. “Of course. You’re a precious friend.” Hinata’s soft voice hung in the air between the two women, and they eventually looked away from each other to watch two polar bear cubs playing with a big tractor tire. One of the cubs was a little bigger than the other, but also clumsier. It got itself stuck in the middle of the tire and the smaller cub tried to save it, but instead knocked the tire and cub together into the water. The tire floated but the big cub didn’t, so it was able to escape and swim back to shore. It shook its coat dry, spraying water all over the smaller cub.

“They’re so cute!” laughed Sakura, unable to take her eyes off the scene.

“They remind me of Boruto and Sarada,” Hinata commented, but Sakura didn’t seem to hear it. Hinata’s eyes wandered up the craggy walls of the bear enclosure, up to the cloudy Konoha sky. Then she scanned down again, this time her gaze resting on Sakura, watching how she craned her neck in interest at the bear cubs and how her shoulders bounced gently when she laughed.

When the polar bear cubs went back to sunbathing, Sakura turned to Hinata. “Why don’t we go check the bugs out next?” she suggested. “I bet you know all about them, too!”

Hinata giggled an embarrassed giggle. “Not everything!”

“Come on! There’s no way you could have spent your teenage years around Shino frickin’ Aburame and not learned a thing or two about bugs,” Sakura chided.

“He only specializes in coleoptera, not all arthropods,” Hinata tried to chide back, but the joke was totally lost on Sakura who didn’t know, or care to know, the difference.

“You know some bugs are really useful for medicinal purposes?” Sakura asked and pushed herself off the railing of the bear enclosure, indicating to Hinata that it was time to walk.

“Of course,” Hinata shrugged, following along next to Sakura. “Like the parasitic beetles that can drink infected blood or eat tumors.”

“No, nononono. I mean you can make medicine out of ‘em,” Sakura grinned, a teasing smile with an uncanny resemblance to Naruto’s.

Hinata shook the thought out of her head. “Oh- Oh, don’t tell Shino that…”

“Yeah, we like to grind ‘em up and sometimes, like with dragonflies, you have to pluck their wings off first! One by one—“

“Uh, we’re here!” Hinata cut off Sakura’s weird medical tirade and lead the way into the Hall of Insects, pointing out all the different beetles she knew about. Sakura interjected every once in a while when she spotted a bug that had some certain pharmaceutical properties, or, sometimes, if it was a bug that tasted really good.

Hinata grimaced. “Y— no way… Y-you’re just saying that to make me squirm…”

“No, I’m totally serious! So I was in the land of wind, right, and you know how they barely have any plants? They make most of their medicine out of bugs there! And I was motion sick from Naruto carrying me on his back so they gave me these anti-nausea pellets made out of these bugs—“ Sakura gestured to a particularly nasty looking dung beetle— “and I’m not kidding, it tasted so good! Like pineapple and the best candy in the world had a love child!”

“Uh, why don’t we go look at the snakes? You haven’t eaten those before, right?”

“Well, actually, Sasuke—“ Sakura cut herself off as she saw Hinata’s eyes widen in pure horror. “I’m joking!” she lied. “Sasuke never made me eat a snake or anything?”

Hinata felt like she was going to pass out from a mixture of horror and embarrassment. She tapped her forefingers together in a gesture that always comforted her, and repeated in her head ‘Nobody’s eating snakes… nobody’s eating snakes.’

“Hinata, are you okay?” Sakura looked down at her friend, who was beginning to shudder and blush. When she didn’t respond, Sakura’s medical instincts kicked in. “Hinata, can you hear me?”

Hinata’s eyes moved to meet Sakura’s, but her lips trembled and didn’t speak. Her inner monologue was almost entirely coherent: “oh fuck i’m having a panic attack why does this always happen” but her body wouldn’t do what she wanted it to do, which just escalated her distress.

“Hinata, come with me,” Sakura demanded gently, and put a hand on Hinata’s shoulder. She lead her out of the Hall of Insects and up onto a grassy hill, finding a place in the shade overlooking a small lagoon alive with shimmering fish. She knelt down on the grass and helped Hinata down too, into a sitting position. Hinata’s breath was labored and shallow, coming out sometimes in tight gasps, and she hadn’t stopped poking her forefingers together. Sakura infused some chakra into her hands and placed them lightly on Hinata’s stomach, which was soft and round under the sundress. She sent tiny threads of chakra throughout Hinata’s system, confirming her suspicion that this was just a routine panic attack. “All right, Hinata, you are having a panic attack, is that right?” Hinata nodded. “Do they usually last a long time for you?” Hinata shook her head. “Okay, good. I will stay with you right here, just shake your head if you need anything. I will make sure you breathe and I will make sure you are safe. Just watch the fish, Hinata. See them swimming?” Hinata nodded her head, her breath was already starting to return to her and her pulse was lowering. “Feel the earth under your feet… feel how the grass is cool and damp?” Hinata nodded her head and managed a shaky verbal response. “Good, good.” Sakura smoothed Hinata’s silky black hair out of her face and watched as Hinata finally lowered her hands shakily to her thighs. Watched as Hinata took deeper breaths as she watched the fish in the lagoon, and finally, as her breathing returned to normal, watched the muscles in her face and body relax incrementally at first and then all at once. The expression on Hinata’s face was so open and so vulnerable… but just for a second, as it quickly contorted into fear as she lost her purchase on the hill and tumbled toward the lagoon!

Hinata fell into the water with a loud KERSPLASH! and Sakura, trying to catch her, tumbled after her. Once Sakura came up for air her ears were filled with the beautiful sound of Hinata’s laughter. It seemed like the panic, at least, had passed after all.


End file.
